HUDSON – Almost 78 years ago, the first homecoming queen at Hudson High School wore a peach chiffon formal, borrowed from a friend, for the homecoming ceremony. A cardboard crown was placed on Fern Torkelson's head.

"It's the only full-length dress I've ever had," Fern — now Fern Nitz — says. "We had our banquets, you know, when we were juniors and seniors, but we wore short dresses. We never had a prom or anything. And I had just the awfulest wedding dress."

On Sept. 6, Fern will wear peach again, this time a peach blouse with slacks in a complementary color, as she is honored at the annual Hudson Community Celebration and 2014 Alumni Reunion.

Fern's anointing provided a splash of color even brighter than peach to a small Lincoln County community that had been mired in the Depression.

On Oct. 8, 1936, the Hudsonite newspaper had announced homecoming plans. "By a majority vote, Miss Fern Torkelson, an outstanding member of the senior class and one of the most popular girls who ever attended Hudson High, was chosen homecoming queen," the newspaper proclaimed.

Fern Nitz, 95, of Hudson, was the first homecoming queen at the high school. She will be honored in a parade Sept. 6 in her hometown of Hudson.

"A big parade, led by the homecoming queen and our wonderful high school band in full regalia, will start from the schoolhouse and parade the downtown streets before leading the way to the athletic field, where our high school Trojans will try conclusions with the snappy Canton Augustana Academy team, a team they defeated last week and a team that is looking for revenge. The new 6-man football will be used."

Also part of that special day were drills by the town fire department and a presentation on how to prevent auto accidents by a state patrol trooper. That Friday also was "Lief (sic) Erickson Day, a national and state holiday," and a speech on the Scandinavian explorer was promised.

More than 75 years after Fern first was honored, and 29 years after the Hudson school district merged with Alcester, the Hudson woman will be honored again as grand marshal of the Hudson Community Celebration parade. This time, alumni association president Steve Brown says he'll come up with something more than a cardboard crown for Fern to wear.

The cardboard crown was fine with Fern at the time, however, and she has saved it carefully — somewhere — all these years. She also has a photograph of herself — somewhere — in the borrowed peach-colored finery.

Twenty-four years ago, she moved back to the house where she was raised and now vows she'll leave it only "on a stretcher."

The youngest of five children, Fern always has lived in Hudson. She started in the Hudson school district when she was in first grade, walking what would be about two blocks to the two-story brick building. The first high school class had graduated in 1901, while Fern's sister graduated in 1926.

Fern can look at a list of her classmates from 1937 and relate the fates of some of them. Only one other member still is living, and she lives in a nursing home in Elk Point. Others died years ago, including Charles Robinson, who had survived the Bataan death march in World War II, and William Reier, a glider pilot during the war who died of cancer.

In the mid-1930s, though, the 16-member class had something fun to look forward to: the high school's first homecoming.

It was the idea of Superindent Lloyd Uecker.

"He was very up and coming, and I think he wanted this stuff done," Fern says. "I think he got the school accredited, too. He went on and got to be a big shot in education. I think he was out in Pierre."

The "home ec girls" prepared and served the first homecoming lunch, which drew about 60 people. By the next year, homecoming had expanded to include an evening banquet served at a downtown cafe.

From then on, Hudson High School named a homecoming queen every year, almost 50 in total. The ceremony changed except in one respect.

"Boy, it did change," Fern says. "They had gold crowns and velvet robes. But they never had a homecoming king."

After high school, Fern accepted her first job, working at Ceal's Tavern in Hawarden, Iowa. She eventually spent 27 years in the food industry, including running a cafe in Hudson for 15 years and then offering catering.

She married Raymond "Joe" Nitz in 1948, a baseball player from Canova whose fastball earned him the nickname "Smoky Joe." They "just met," Fern says.

"He came back from the war, and of course everybody was looking for a girlfriend when they come back," she says.

The couple raised three children, all Hudson High graduates. Gary lives in Sioux Falls and Dan in Hudson. Her daughter, Arlie Jo, died in an auto accident.

The Class of 1937 always carried a feeling of pride about bringing homecoming to Hudson High School, Fern says. Her pride in that distinction tops even the honor of being the first homecoming queen.

"The class was real proud we could have all that done in our senior year," she says.

Reach Jill Callison at 331-2307 or jcalliso@argusleader.com.

If you go

WHAT: Hudson Community Celebration and 2014 Alumni Reunion

WHEN: Sept. 6

EVENTS: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Hudson High School memorabilia will be on display at the library along with a quilt display; 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Class Show & Shine in front of the Memorial Building; 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., hot dog feed for a freewill donation; noon to 2:30 p.m., ice cream social fundraiser in front of the Historical Boy Scout Cabin with an open house from noon to 3 p.m.; 2:30 p.m., parade; 3 to 4:45 p.m., coffee and cookies in the Buckaroo Dining Room; 5 p.m. social hour and 6 p.m. banquet, Hudson Community Center; 8 to midnight, dance with karaoke, Hudson Community Center.